Sometimes, one simply has no words when faced with the incontravertable evidence of the empty brains of certain American politicians. Most of you are already aware of the deeply offensive and downright ignorant remarks of U.S. Representative Todd Akin, Republican from Missouri and his ridiculous attempt to distance himself from them. Aside from the fact that he is completely wrong (tell the 10,000 women from Rwanda who conceived during the genocidal rapes there that 'pregnancy from legitimate rape is very rare'), I cannot get that phrase 'legitimate rape' out of my head.

There has been a movement in this country by anti-abortion activists to 'classify' rapes into sub-types as a means of denying access to emergency post-rape contraception and abortion services (which, in spite of their best efforts, remain legal in this country, if harder and harder to get), as if the only rape worthy of the name involves the nightmare scenario of a stranger with a knife or a gun who climbed in through your bedroom window. The current Republican vice-presidential candidate is himself a co-sponsor of such a bill, along with Mr. Akin, that would do just that, among other things, and confer personhood upon embryos from the moment the sperm penetrates the egg. If they can perpetrate the myth that 'real' rape never results in pregnancy, then they can use that myth to prevent women who become pregnant as a result of rape from terminating their pregnancies on the grounds that they weren't actually raped - it must have been a teeny little bit consensual if they got pregnant and they shouldn't be allowed to take out their remorse over their illicit sexual activity on the innocent child which resulted. Yes, there are still some sick people who believe such things. And some of them are running for the highest offices in the land.

Rape is real and in comes in many, many different guises - a lot of them with faces that the victim knows intimately. There is a very important project which is trying to show this, and I am passing this on to you as a way of boosting its signal and maybe helping grind into dust the idea that rape doesn't happen in ways beyond what the right-wing religious fanatics define it as. It is called Project Unbreakable, and it was started by a woman named Grace Brown to break through the silence that surrounds rape perpetrated by people the victim knew and trusted. She photographs the woman (or man - it happens to them, too) holding a sign with the words the rapist used to justify his actions, the reactions to the assault by people they told, and/or their own feelings in the aftermath. It is powerful, heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time, and the courage on display here is the perfect antidote to the stone-age thinking that seems to have infected too many of our politicians. Pass it on. And if you are a US citizen, it is imperative that you go and vote to make certain that no one who holds such ignorant and completely false ideas gets elected to public office.

Actually, I prefer public castration. And assignment to a menial job that does not involve any sort of decision making - their feeble brains can't handle it.

In a just world (which we all know this isn't) such people would never be given the time of day by anyone, let alone be entrusted with public office. I tremble for my country when I think that there are many more who think they way he does but have just enough wattage upstairs to know to keep their mouths shut.

I thought I was too old to be surprised by anything a politician said, BUT, this proves me wrong. Will the idiocy in this country ever stop? Makes me wonder if the idea of replacing voter ID laws with voter IQ laws isn't a bad thing.

Sadly, a high IQ doesn't prevent a person from being delusional, but yes, it might help if one had to prove that one had a level of intelligence beyond your average stalk of broccoli before being allowed into a voting booth.

One of the worst things about this? He's on the freaking House Committee on Science, Space and Technology - profoundly anti-science, profoundly ignorant and proud of it.

You are welcome, and I truly hope that enough women and men who care about equality and justice are outraged enough to stop being the apathetic slackers they've been and realize just how important their votes are to preventing a complete takeover by these ignorant clowns.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Irish philosopher and politician Edmund Burke: "All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing." This is so very true. If enough people get off of their collective arses and not only speak out but put their ballots where their mouths are, we can stop them. But if voter turnout remains at the deeply troubling low levels it has been (less than 48% in my state, with the 18-29 year olds at only 20.4% at the midterm elections), then they win - their fanatical voters, while still a minority, come out in much higher number than average to vote.

The more and the louder these morons open their mouths, the greater the light shined on their absolute lunacy. The trouble is that most of them are smart enough to keep their mouths shut, and then deny, obfuscate and divert if someone calls them out - see Paul Ryan as Exhibit A.

I have never worked a political campaign before - I have always been independent and proud of it. But there are no more liberal or moderate Republicans left - they've been purged from the GOP - so, for the first time in my life I have sent money to Emily's List and I have enlisted in the local League of Women Voters' voter registration drive. These people must be stopped.

Thank you for taking the time to write about this important topic. there can never be too many protests when someone as dangerous as this tries to move into a powerful position (wasn't he asked to step down now, I heard yesterday???).

JD told me about Grace's project a few good months back; I think she follows it on tweeter or something. Fair play to Grace, really. Such an important (and emotionally draining) work she does there. And it's always good to have her voice revibrate everywhere possible.

Great post, Lark. I've seen all this around Facebook and it's driven me crazy (except the Project Unbreakable; that's driven me nearly sane again). Sometimes I wonder if I'm secretly living in some dystopian series written by an author with a wicked sense of humour, but then I think I'm just being too hopeful.